Hard to believe it is officially our winter here, Golden Bay has had 2 months of glorious "Indian Summer" weather and sitting out in the sun in shorts and a tee shirt is still a great way to pass the time of day.

The road to Totaranui in the Abel Tasman National Park has been repaired well ahead of schedule (partly I am sure because of the great weather) and is due to open the end of this month which is great news for the whole of Golden Bay.

The Adrift property has not been affected, here it was just a very wet couple of days.

The road from Nelson to "Adrift in Golden Bay" is open.

Our beach has remained open for swimming etc.during the whole time and the sea is slowly returning to its normal, clear blue colour.

All the serious damage occurred over the eastern (Pohara) side of Golden Bay.

The road to Totaranui in the Abel Tasman National Park is closed but Abel Tasman Sea Shuttle, are running two boats each day from Golden Bay's Port Tarakohe to Totaranui.

In central and western Golden Bay all the road are open.

8th December 2011

We have seen an increase in couples choosing Adrift for their New Zealand honeymoon accommodation, probably because of our "Romantic Hotels" award (in all of our accommodation, not just in the Honeymoon Cottage).

We do appreciate all feedback from our guests and have continued to refine our Golden Bay accommodation from the feedback we get; we are trialling electric kettles in the cottages in response to recent feedback.

We have switched to locally-crafted, refillable bathroom amenities in order to reduce our plastic waste. They are made from essential lavender oil and other quality ingredients.

All the accommodations now have ceiling fans for power saving in winter and cooling in summer. (we seldom have uncomfortable heat in summer as we seldom reach 30C and warm summer days always brings with it a cooling sea breeze)

Jordan, our son, has been busy upgrading the beach access paths for Cottage 3 and the Studio before heading off in February to do a 2-year course in Landscape Design.

27th October 2011

Since our last update we have re-named our cottages, Cottage 1 becomes the Honeymoon Cottage, Cottage 2 and 3 are now our Beachfront Cottages and Cottage 4 and 5 are renamed the Beach View Cottages.

We now have several awards to our name, "Five-Star" and "Eco Silver" from Qualmark New Zealand. "10 Best Romantic Hotels in the South Pacific" and "Excellence" award from Tripadvisor.

Last year was a hard year for our penguin population. The warmer waters around New Zealand caused even warmer waters in Golden Bay, so the small fish that the penguins live on swam to the deeper water and many penguins starved. This year however has been just the opposite and breeding started very early and we are now into the second breeding cycle with 2 chicks being reared in all the breeding boxes that we have monitored.

We hope to keep you more up-to-date using our Facebook page as it is so easy to update and gives you the opportunity to respond.

12th September 2009

Sorry about the lack of news updates but we have been busy here in Golden Bay.

We have been working on our landscaping all the cottage courtyards are planted and are flourishing, we have planted lots more New Zealand native trees and shrubs to enhance our waterfront property.

After much deliberation we decided on the final heating for the villas (cottages) and studio. Cottage 3, 4 and 5 have gas heat and the waterfront villas 1 and 2 have electric heat.We wanted above all for the heating to be totally silent so as not to distract from the peace and quiet that we treasure here in this special part of New Zealand.

We have rebuilt our reception area and now have a dedicated workshop.

BEACHFRONT COTTAGES

19th January 2008.

Our two new cottages opened in December 2007, they are the same inside as the 3 existing cottages which we opened in 2005 and 2006.

They look out over the water and beach but are 50 metres inland from the present cottages on the opposite banks of the small stream and are therefore be quite private from each other and from the existing accommodation. View our beachfront retreat site plan.

See our "Facilities" page for details of these luxurious accommodations in a stunning beachfront location.

You can view cottage availability, obtain a quote for your stay for dates up until September 2008 and even make an instant on-line booking on this website by clicking here.

If the time you are interested in staying is not available, please contact us by clicking here

Please feel free to e-mail us by clicking here if you have questions which you cannot find the answers to on our website. (or use our "Contact Us" page).

PENGUINS

19th January 2008.

We have had a successful breeding season, some of the penguins attempted to raise a second brood with variable results. We have one very fat healthy chick at the moment and at the same time some nesting boxes have adults in them which are moulting.

2nd November

The penguin chicks are growing quickly, the first to hatch have now almost lost all their down and have a beautiful covering of bright, iridescent, blue feathers. Recently more birds seem to be coming ashore at night, hopefully to mate and extend the breeding season.

30th August 2007

Spring is definitely here in Golden Bay, the willow trees are in leaf and the penguins have hatched their first chicks!

14th April 2007

A daytime survey today revealed nesting box No.1 with a pair of penguins at home and box No. 3 with a single penguin in residence. We also have heard other penguins close by and will attempt to encourage them into another nesting box as they are then better able to defend themselves from stoats and dogs.

19th March 2007

The penguins are back! After 2 months at sea the penguins have returned and will hopefully breed for the second time this year.

In Spring we had 3 pairs of Little Blue Penguins using our nesting boxes after several years nesting under some of our buildings. Each pair successfully raised 2 chicks. This is probably one of the first successful relocations in Golden Bay. The penguin boxes enable the penguins to breed safely and also means that they can be easily observed.

All the adult penguins have recently spent 3 weeks in the nesting boxes moulting, during this time they cannot swim and therefore go entirely without food!!.